


Beyond the Time of the Stars

by InsomniacTiger



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Blood and Injury, But a Tiger, Felix is a Tiger, Frog Prince AU, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Claude von Riegan, Physical Abuse, Romance, Self-Indulgent, Sylvix Week (Fire Emblem), Threats of Violence, Tiger Felix, kind of.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 15:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21181727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsomniacTiger/pseuds/InsomniacTiger
Summary: Sylvain is just trying to get through life as a university student, but when a rare black tiger suddenly enters his life it changes all his plans. Now he will do whatever he can to keep his new friend from becoming the next cadaver for the university students to study.A modern day AU that is basically a Frog Prince AU, kind of, but Felix is a tiger instead of a frog. This is 100% self-indulgent and I still have no regrets.





	Beyond the Time of the Stars

It was really a coincidence that he was even in this area on campus. He was simply looking for a shortcut to get to the food court. But he stumbled into the science building when the crowd of students entering was too much to fight. There was an exhibit going on.

Now that he was here looking at the sign for it, he was sure that he’d seen someone with a flyer earlier in the week. But who actually read those things?

The science department was making a big deal out of some animals they were hosting for the semester. Most were various species of birds from somewhere tropical. There was a large tank of exotic fish. A few monkeys, but he chose to stay away from those. Too many movies proved that they were not to be trusted. No matter how small and innocent they may seem.

But the spotlight of the exhibit was clearly the Black Tiger. He tried to catch a glimpse at it, but the crowd was too thick.

Deciding a big black cat was not worth his time he shrugged his backpack a little higher on his shoulder and used the distraction of the animals to hopefully beat the crowd to the food court.

* * *

“Did you see him?” Annette was gushing.

“Yeah! He was magnificent!” Ashe agreed with just as much enthusiasm.

“I can’t believe they are keeping all those animals all semester.” Mercedes shook her head. “That’s going to be so much work for them to keep up with over there.”

“But it’s worth it!” The petite red head replied. “Don’t you think so Ingrid?”

The blonde looked over with mild surprise. “Actually. I have yet to see the exhibit.”

“Then let’s go!”

“I was there earlier.” Sylvain finally jumped in. “It’s so crazy with everyone trying to see that cat that it’s really not worth the walk.”

“On the contrary,” Dimitri interjected as he approached the table, Dedue at his heels as always. “Most of the students that were there earlier dispersed due to the main classes being over for the day.”

“You all going over to check out my tiger?” Claude appeared suddenly leaning heavily on Dimitri’s shoulders.

“Your tiger?” Ashe questioned.

“His family is the benefactor that donated the animals to the science department.” Linhardt explained with a wide yawn as he collapsed next to Caspar at the table immediately dropping his head onto the other young man’s shoulder.

“I only caught a glimpse earlier…” Dimitri mused. “I wouldn’t mind getting a better look.”

“Field trip!” Claude declared yanking the blonde to his feet.

Dedue, Annette, Ashe, and Mercedes were quick to follow. Ingrid glanced over at Sylvain who shrugged before they reluctantly tagged along. Caspar and Linhardt opted to stay at the table. Caspar just giving a grin and pointed at his sleeping boyfriend.

* * *

The tiger wasn’t what Sylvain expected. In his mind he had pictured a large wild beast. But in reality, the tiger was not nearly so big. He was thin, not sickly looking or anything. But a lot slenderer, even for a cat. The tiger wasn’t pacing back and forth like a restless animal, but just lying there, head on his paws, watching everyone stare at him with what could only be a bored expression. Rather than being completely black like his name suggested he was mostly dark, with slivers of silver stripes appearing along his silky fur. Bright amber eyes were focused on a student who was probably a little too close to the enclosure. Not that he seemed inclined to do anything about it.

“There is practically no fence keeping this thing locked up.” Ingrid frowned.

“Nah.” Claude shrugged. “This guy has actually been in my family’s personal zoo for a few years now. He’s not aggressive. Mean as hell. But zero chance that he’d go after someone.”

“How do you know he’s mean if he doesn’t go after people?” Ashe asked only a little timidly.

“Watch this.” Claude stepped up closer to the area. The tiger’s eyes changed their focus to him quickly, something like recognition seemed to trigger him into raising his head slightly.

“I told you that you’re so pretty everyone would want to see you!” Claude spoke right to the animal.

The tiger’s ears went flat against his skull, he gave a low growl then promptly rolled over so that he was facing the opposite direction, his long tail flicking irritably.

“See! He’s an asshole!” Claude pointed at the animal that had just given him the cold shoulder.

Everyone else was laughing at the reaction.

“Even the tiger knows it’s better to ignore you.” Dimitri chuckled.

“Hey! Not you too. I know where you live.”

“Across the hall would be difficult to ignore.” Dedue nodded in mock seriousness.

“For that – you are buying dinner tonight.” Claude spun on his heel leading out of the science building.

“Like I wasn’t going to anyway.” The blonde sighed.

“Now you’re catching on.”

“We should go too.” Ingrid nodded to the others. “Or we’ll be late to astronomy.”

Sylvain realized that he was suddenly alone.

He didn’t have a night class. But since all his friends did, he often found himself hanging around the campus into the late hours with them. Going back to his apartment was too lonely some nights. And inviting girls over was only sometimes appealing. Though he found he usually just regretted it. Right about now was when he usually pulled out his laptop in the empty library and watched some mindless sitcom that was supposed to be funny until they got out and then went to dinner.

The lights had dimmed so that only a fraction of them remained on. At some point the tiger had rolled back over and was now watching him with what appeared to be little interest.

“You know. I’ve always thought my life sucked. But being stuck in that small area has _got_ to be worse.”

The tiger snorted.

“That was almost like a response!” Sylvain smirked taking a seat on the bench facing the enclosure. “Mind if I bother you with some more pointless chatter?”

The tiger didn’t roll over like it had with Claude, so he took that as a yes.

It was fun seeing how the tiger seemed to listen to every word he said. Occasionally he would get a snort, or a flick of the ears. Sometimes the large cat outright yawned at him. Which seemed rude and he told him so. That earned another grunt.

Finally, it came time to go meet with everyone so he got to his feet and said goodbye. The tiger remained silent but watched him leave with those amber eyes.

* * *

This became the new routine. He’d wait next to the tiger enclosure while the others were in class. Sometimes he’d complain about school or his parents. Sometimes he spoke about how his most recent date had gone or how he realized that he tended to bring girls back with him when he particularly just didn’t want to be alone. Sometimes he just sat there in silence, doing homework, or watching the stupid sitcoms.

He couldn’t place when it started, but eventually he realized that he had stopped sitting on the bench but leaning up against the glass wall. And at some point… the tiger had started to lean on the other side next to him.

“He likes you.” Claude’s voice interrupted his train of thought one night as he was working on his homework.

Looking up in surprise he looked over his shoulder to find that the large cat was doing the thing where it seemed like it was reading over his shoulder. Which was crazy. He must just like the sound of the pages turning or something.

“Yeah? I like to think we’re old friends at this point.” Sylvain joked.

Claude sat cross legged on the ground next to him. “I’ve never seen him so… alive.”

“He’s just sitting there.”

“True.” Claude chuckled. “But I’ve known this tiger a long time now and he normally looks like… he’s just waiting to die. However, right now, his eyes are awake. He’s interested in what you are doing. He likes you.”

“Aw. Is that true?” Sylvain grinned at the large animal.

The tiger gave a small growl, but didn’t show any real signs of aggression.

“It’s too bad you guys didn’t meet sooner.” Claude said quietly.

The red head looked over at him hearing the somberness in his tone. “Why’s that?”

“Well… the real reason all these animals were donated is because when they die the university has been cleared to use their bodies for lab experiments… him in particular. Considering his unusual coloring.”

“What?” His voice was barely a whisper as he looked sadly at the subject over their conversation. “Are they going to… kill him?”

“No! Definitely not.” Claude quickly reassured him. “The deal was they all had to have natural deaths. No poisoning or anything. But Hugo here, he’s been getting thinner and lazier. Even for a smaller tiger he’s not nearly close enough to a healthy weight. My father said that he probably had some weird genetics and that he would pass on sooner than the average tiger. When we had a professional come look at him, they gave him four months tops. It’s been two already. And he’s even thinner than the day we brought him here.”

Sylvain took a moment to process that. The tiger… Hugo, apparently, but his new-found companion…. Was dying? It seemed silly to care, it’s not like he’s even a pet. But he felt emotionally attached to this big cat.

“Isn’t there something we can do?”

“The doctor that looked at him before said he was dying simply because he had given up. But… since he seems to like you. Maybe you can get him to try again.”

“I’ll do anything. What should we try?”

“I’m surprised. I never pegged you as the caring type Gautier.”

“That’s rude.”

“We’ve all heard the tales of Sylvain Gautier and the trail of broken hearts he leaves in his path.”

“That’s comparing apples and oranges. Women I don’t know and that are just trying to use me compared to the tiger I’ve been spending many evenings talking to like a crazy person are two totally different scenarios.”

“So. Choosing the tiger over the ladies, huh?”

“What?”

“Never mind. Anyway – first order of business. Let’s get in the cage.” Claude jumped to his feet and began dragging the bench over toward the glass wall.

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Despite his words he still went to follow his friend’s lead.

“No way. I’ve done this a million times. Hugo doesn’t care.”

“How did he get the name Hugo?”

“I named him! He is such a little tiger I thought something that sounded like a big strong man name would give him more confidence.”

“Right.”

It wasn’t that the tiger seemed to lack confidence. It was simply that he didn’t care.

When they both landed inside the enclosure the large black tiger remained in the same spot as before, tail flicking lazily watching them with slight interest.

Claude walked over and pat his head, but Hugo growled and shook his head so that he was forced to move his hand away.

“You try.”

Sylvain realized he probably should have hesitated.

This was a tiger.

A wild animal.

Something that could literally tear him apart and eat him.

Easily.

And by all rights it should.

Because he was the dumbass that just climbed into a tiger cage.

Yet he still reached over and scratched at one of the round fluffy ears like he would to Annette’s dog.

The tiger…. leaned into his hand.

“What the hell… that’s insane.” Claude muttered before running off into some corner that was hidden by fake shrubbery.

He returned a moment later with a large bucket full of raw meat. “See if you can get him to eat this.”

“… is that his dinner?”

“It was supposed to be. But he didn’t want to touch it when the animal keeper came by earlier to check on them. This is what a tiger his size should be eating daily.”

Shrugging Sylvain took the bucket and offered it to the cat.

Hugo grunted and rolled onto his side giving Sylvain a side glance, but showing no interest in the food.

“Hey now. If you’re not going to eat this, you’re going to be so weak _I_ could beat you in a wrestling match. And that would be embarrassing for you. Because Ashe’s little sister could kick my ass easily if she wanted to.”

Amber eyes glared at him for a moment more before he released a huge sigh, then got to his paws and padded over to where Sylvain was still waiting with the bucket. He took large slab of meat out of the bucket and dragged it over to a patch of grass before he began eating.

When it looked like he was almost finished with one, Sylvain tossed another large piece over toward his paws. The tiger glared at him for a moment before dragging the meat closer to his jaws and began to eat it too.

Suddenly Claude’s arm wrapped around his shoulders. “This is truly a miracle. I thought for sure I was going to watch this poor thing shrivel to nothing before my eyes. But look at him go! I knew he still had some life in him.”

“But what does this mean for the contract with the school? He can’t live in this thing if we want him to have a more active healthy life.”

“Good point. Let’s wait a few more days and see if this behavior keeps up. If he gains a few pounds I’ll call my old man and see about getting him returned home. Now for real – we should get out of here before we get caught.”

Claude went to stash the now empty bucket back in its location. While he was doing that Sylvain crouched in front of the tiger’s face. Blood from the meat was smeared around his muzzle, but somehow he still wasn’t intimidated.

“Alright. You’ve been putting up with my complaining every night. So now let me help you get healthy. Deal?”

Those intelligent amber eyes met his before he made a new sound that sounded like small repeated huffing.

“That’s a happy noise isn’t it?” He smiled. “Admit it. You like me.”

The tiger head butted him lightly, but with enough force to knock him off his feet.

“Hey!”

“What happened?” Claude hurried back over.

“He made some weird noise and I tried to get him to admit he liked me.”

Claude made a very similar noise to the one the tiger had made before, but Hugo seemed more interested in sniffing at Sylvain’s hair now that it was within his reach.

“How do you do that? What is that?”

“It’s called chuffing. Tigers do it when they are happy. They can’t purr, so they make this noise.” Claude repeated the noise again.

Hugo growled at him.

“Why do you always do that? I’m trying to be nice!”

There was the sound of a door opening.

“Shit. We’ve got to run.”

“Bye Hugo!”

The tiger watched them scramble over the wall, move the bench back, collect their things, and run as fast as possible out of the building.

* * *

Sylvain was … interesting. Through the years he had been put into many cages. Endured more than thousands of hours’ worth of boredom and other forms of torment. People stared at him. They prodded and tried to ‘train’ him. But this unruly scarlet haired student… treated him like an equal. It was strange. The things that he complained about ranged from being ignored by a girl he didn’t truly seem to care about to admitting that his older brother used to torment him.

At the mention of his family problems, Sylvain had been incredibly subdued. He had started the visit by collapsing against the glass wall and banging his head against it hard enough that he’d almost winced for him.

“I just had a visit from my brother. Damn asshole just shows up whenever he wants.”

As had grown the habit when the red head showed up, he’d moved from his spot in the softer patch of grass to go lean against the glass too. But when he walked over, he noticed the dark red splotches along the normally flawless skin. Purple newly lacing the spots. By the placing of the bruises it was clear that a hand had been wrapped around his throat. Makeup was doing a poor job hiding another on his lower jaw and a black eye. Who knows what was hidden under his unusual amount of layers. It was too warm tonight for the jacket he was wearing, the popped collar doing nothing to hide the handprints on his neck.

A growl rumbled in his chest.

Sylvain chuckled.

“I agree. But this time, he had an excuse. My old man sent him. Apparently, they wanted to be sure I was home for the holiday weekend. I had been planning on just chilling in my apartment. I won’t lie. But…” He sighed. “It will probably be easier to just go. I don’t want Miklan showing up again.” He lightly banged his head against the glass a few more times before muttering. “What if Ingrid or Annette had been over? He would have hurt them too…”

Not able to give much input he grunted.

“I fight back.” Sylvain went on to inform him. “I do. I’m usually fast enough to avoid the worst of it… but he caught me by surprise this time. Miklan… he’s strong. Always has been. And he’s always hated me.”

There was a long silence.

“Anyway. Enough of that boring sad crap.” He pulled out his laptop. “I know you’re dying to know what happens next.” The music began to play for the comedy detective show that he had recently began watching.

Most nights the show was amusing and quite entertaining. However, tonight he couldn’t focus on the bright screen. His eyes kept going back to the dark splotches.

A familiar hatred filled him. Something protective and … wild. It was just beyond his grasp. But it was like a fog was lifting as he continued to find all the discolorations on the once flawless skin.

If only he could sink his claws into that bastard…

* * *

Another night Claude showed up with Sylvain, but stayed long after the other man had left. Climbing into the enclosure was something that von Riegan had always been comfortable with. Even as a dumb kid. He’s lucky that he had no desire to eat human.

“I know you like him more than me. Which by the way is hardly fair.” Claude began as he relaxed back in the patch of grass that he usually preferred to lie in. “I’ve known you longer and I’ve done everything to try and help you.”

He snorted at him.

“Ok. Maybe there was more I could have done. But you are just as at fault. You refused to eat for months. Which by the way, I lied about so that they didn’t realize how special you really are. They think we tamed you and that I feed you in secret. Could you imagine what they would do to you here if they knew how old you really were? How you can go forever without eating? Also, the fact that you communicate and understand me?”

He flicked his tail irritably. The only reason Claude knew all this was because he’d been pestering him since he was a child. It had been simpler to just give in to his curiosity.

“You’ve been a good friend over the years. I know you don’t consider me that way. But you’re still important to me. And Sylvain loves you.”

His ears flickered in surprise.

What?

“Well. He didn’t say love. But he literally never shuts up about visiting you. I know your life sucks… but his does too. It could only do you both some good if you decided to be less stubborn on this. He only wants to save you. I couldn’t stop them from dragging you out here. But maybe we can convince them to get you back to the reserve. It’s not much of a life I know. But it has got to be better than being stuck here surrounded by scientist just waiting for you to die.”

There… was no argument for that.

* * *

It had been a week and Hugo had gained seven pounds. It wasn’t quite the required healthy weight just yet, but he was clearly on his way to reaching that goal. Since Sylvain had started sneaking into the enclosure at night to feed him, the tiger had also become more active. Walking about the enclosure, climbing the few log structures that had been provided, and even the day before he spent a good hour swimming in the small pool.

Now Sylvain and Claude were sitting inside the enclosure, with Hugo sitting between them. Recently the large cat had taken a liking to sniffing at his self-proclaimed care taker’s red hair. Occasionally he would simply just rest the top of his head on Sylvain’s who did his best not to complain, despite how heavy the tiger’s head was, it was somehow comforting too.

“So now you’ll do it right?” Sylvain currently was pulling out leaves and other debris that was clinging to Hugo’s fur.

“Call my dad? Definitely. He didn’t like the idea of sending Hugo here to start with, but when it looked like he wasn’t going to get better he gave up.”

They waited patiently as Claude set up the phone so that it would be a video call, his dad answered fairly quickly.

“Claude! You said it was important, are you ok?”

“Yeah! I’m fine. But guess what? Hugo’s gaining weight again! He’s super active and almost back to full health. He can go back home, now right?” He angled the camera so that it caught the much healthier looking tiger in the shot.

Seemingly already bored of the camera Hugo had turned his attention back to Sylvain’s hair.

“Who is that with you?”

“That’s Sylvain!”

The red head waved at his friend’s parent realizing he must look ridiculous with a tiger nosing at his hair.

“He’s the one who managed to convince our stubborn Hugo to get back into shape.”

The tiger snorted right into his hair.

“Hey. That’s not nice.” Sylvain pushed lightly at the cat’s face.

“He does seem better…” Claude’s father looked incredibly like his son, but with more lines on his face and very full beard. “But unfortunately, I can’t simply take him back.”

“Why not?”

“He was donated son. I can’t simply take back a donation.”

Claude quickly got to his feet and stepped away, but they could still hear his angry tone. “This isn’t a bundle of money though. This is a living breathing creature.”

Hugo gave a sigh before stretching out next to Sylvain. When he reached over to play with his ears the tiger growled, but made no move to stop him so he kept doing it anyway.

“Hey. No matter how this phone call goes… I promise I won’t let them make you into a lab experiment.”

Another grunt.

“You could at least pretend to be grateful. We are going out of our way to help you, you know.”

Angry tail swipes.

Sylvain gave a dramatic sigh before leaning heavily on the tiger’s back.

“Wow. This is actually comfy. No wonder people make tiger skin rugs.”

Hugo got to his feet and let Sylvain drop to the floor.

“Ow… jeez. I was kidding.”

Claude joined them a moment later. “Guys… he said he’d try. But he doesn’t see a way to possibly convince the university to give up such a rare specimen. Also…” Sad green eyes hesitated as he met the amber of the tiger’s, but continued on. “Apparently there was a loop hole in the contract. Something we somehow missed. We originally thought it would allow all the animals go at a natural cause. But… because Hugo was supposedly dying anyway. They said they would only ‘house’ him for two months. Because after that… well a tiger that wasn’t eating wasn’t going to survive beyond that anyway.”

Sylvain at some point had curled his fingers into the thick fur that was the ruff at Hugo’s neck. After Claude’s announcement he realized that they were gripping so tightly that he was probably yanking out some of the tiger’s fur.

“But we’re not going to let them.” Sylvain said knowing Claude would back him up on this.

“Of course not. I just need time to plan. Give me two days.”

“How long does he have…?”

“Two weeks.”

Hugo grunted and marched off back to where they had set up a place for him to climb disguised as a pile of logs. Once he was at the top where there was a small cave he went inside and laid down.

“We’ll save him.” Claude said to reassure himself as much as Sylvain. “I promise.”

* * *

Sylvain hardly left the enclosure within those two days. He spent every minute he could next to his four-legged friend. During the second day, as the sun was going down, Sylvain got a phone call. He had been lounging with his back leaning against Hugo’s back side. Thinking it was Claude he swiped at the screen without paying attention.

“Where are you?”

“_Where are you?!”_

“Miklan?!” He suddenly sat up and the sound of his brother’s _very angry_ voice.

“_You better be dying somewhere little brother. Or you soon will be.”_

“Why?” Sylvain hated the fear in his voice. But it had been a long time since he had heard his brother _this_ angry.

“_Your fancy university called today. And guess what? Apparently, you’ve missed **every** class for the last two days. Dad’s not happy.”_

Shit.

When his father was unhappy… he took it out on Miklan. Who usually shared that with Sylvain. But now that he was actually the cause of his brother’s anger? This was going to be really bad…

“_DO NOT make me have to come find you. It will be so much worse for you if I have to drive down to your stupid school._”

“R-right.”

“_You are on your way back now._”

“Ye-yes.”

“_Good._”

Sylvain stared at his phone in his trembling hand. The longer he made Miklan wait the worse he would get. If he left now maybe he could save some damage from happening to the apartment at least…

Getting his unsteady legs beneath him he walked over to the glass wall getting ready to climb it, but was stopped by Hugo blocking his way. The tiger was glaring at him standing his ground.

“Hey buddy. I’ll see you tomorrow ok? Tell Claude I said hi when he finally gets his ass over here.”

Trying to dodge around the large cat proved impossible.

“Listen. I really need to go.” He hated the fear in his own voice. He knew there was no way that the tiger didn’t sense that something was wrong. “Claude will be here to keep you company soon Hugo. For now, I really need to go take care of something…”

The tiger growled roughly bumping against the red head knocking him into the grass before laying on top of him, effectively pinning him down.

“You crazy cat. I need - ”

The tiger growled at him.

“You can’t argue with me on this.”

A deeper growl.

“Get. Off.”

“Dude. What did you do to piss him off?” Claude finally appeared.

“Claude! Where have you been? Never mind. Doesn’t matter. Get him off, would you? I need to go.”

“But I just got here.” His friend leaned over him, that single little braid of his swinging by his face.

“And I got a family thing. Now get me up.”

“Alright. C’mon Hugo. Up and at ‘em.” Together they managed to get the tiger to roll off Sylvain.

“Thanks man. I really got to go now. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Sylvain vanished quickly while Claude stood there with crossed arms glaring down at the tiger.

“What was that all about?”

Hugo paced back and forth along the glass wall watching the doorway that the red head had just disappeared through.

“You’re worried about him.”

He grunted.

“Because of his family thing?”

A growl.

“Was it that bad?”

The tiger stopped pacing for a moment to stare at him.

“Jeez I hear you. Alright. I’ll call him in the morning ok?”

Hugo growled again continuing his pacing.

* * *

Sylvain didn’t call.

He didn’t show up at the enclosure the next night either.

Hugo’s pacing grew more anxious and the staff were commenting on the weird behavior.

Claude tried calling Sylvain at least thirty times.

When that proved fruitless, he called Dimitri.

“Claude! To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Put a pin in that, we’ll visit it later. Right now, though, do you know where Sylvain lives?”

“Yes. Why?”

“He promised to call me today but he had a family thing last night he said and now I can’t get a hold of him.”

The silence on Dimitri’s end was telling. The blonde was childhood friends with Sylvain. He would know what was going on much better than Claude would.

“Where are you now?”

“With the tiger. This is where we were going to meet.”

“Hang tight, I’m on my way to pick you up then we’ll go to his place together.”

“It’s that bad?”

“Probably.”

Waiting for Dimitri to show up was agonizing. He found himself following in Hugo’s anxious pacing.

“Why are you in the tiger cage? Never mind, lets go.” Dimitri hurried over upon arrival.

“How bad is bad?”

“We’ll see when we get there… but Claude. It may be hospital bad.”

* * *

Knocking on the door to Sylvain’s apartment brought no reply.

Dimitri muttered some curses under his breath as he fumbled with the spare key kept next to his own.

When they went inside, they saw the mess first. Books and papers littered the floor. A chair was on its side, and there was an acidic smell in the air.

“Sylvain?!” Dimitri called hurrying to his friend’s bedroom.

Claude decided to wait in the main living space. The place looked like a crime scene… and until he saw Sylvain, they may have to consider it one.

Dimitri was back a moment later, the red head limp in his arms. Bruised and bloodied, the only thing that he was wearing was a pair of sweatpants. Dimitri’s normally bright blue eyes were clouded over in anger.

“Call the hospital. Tell them that we are on our way with an emergency.” His tone was a harsh whisper.

“Should we call an ambulance?”

“I don’t want to wait for them. Let’s go.”

* * *

Nothing was broken. Not even his nose or a rib.

Just severe bruising and a few abrasions that the doctor said were likely from being attacked by someone wearing a ring. When asked how their friend had obtained the wounds Dimitri calmly replied that it was just an argument that had gotten out of hand between some drunk college students. Clearly this wasn’t the first time the doctor had heard this and just sighed shaking his head as he left them to watch over their resting friend.

“So, what really happened?” Claude demanded, his voice low in case someone outside the room could hear them.

“It’s Miklan, Sylvain’s older brother. He’s always been like this.”

“And his parents never tried to stop this?”

“Sylvain’s mother died when he was barely three years old. Their father blames Miklan, even though he was only eight when it happened. Freak car accident. It was nobody but the drunk driver’s fault. But that man died too. So Miklan gets his father’s anger. And Sylvain gets Miklan’s.”

“But their father doesn’t go after Sylvain?”

“No. Sylvain… he looks like his mother. Their father used to be a kind and loving husband and father. But death changes people. And so, the cycle of hurting continues. Sylvain has never told his father about Miklan’s abuse to him in fear that his brother would just retaliate harder.”

“This isn’t your first time to the hospital with him.” Claude concluded.

“No. As children, Ingrid and I would always bring him to one of our parents. And now that we’re older… Anyway. I should call her. She’ll want to know.” Dimitri stepped out into the hall cell phone in hand.

A moment later Claude’s own phone went off.

“Claude! Where are you?!”

“Dad? What’s going on?”

“It’s Hugo! The university just called me and said that he broke out of his enclosure! You need to get over there now and find him!”

With a quick explanation and apology to Dimitri he ran out the door.

* * *

Hugo was pacing in his enclosure still.

Ever since the first time he had seen the bruises on Sylvain’s skin something had been bothering him. This wasn’t the first time he’d seen the red head hurt. This wasn’t the first time he’d felt violently protective over him. This wasn’t the first time he wanted to kill the bastard that did this to him.

While it had bother him greatly at the time, it seemed to slip back into a haze after a while. The bruises eventually went away and so did his feelings on the matter.

But then Miklan had called Sylvain.

That angry voice. The demands. The way he made Sylvain come to him. Like he had earned the torment waiting for him. Making him feel like he had no other choice then to be a punching bag.

That’s when the fog cleared.

This was Sylvain.

He had called him an old friend before in jest, but they _were_ old friends.

And the idiot was going to listen to his brother and go back to receive a punishment that he hadn’t earned.

He’d tried to stop him and failed.

Then the Boar had shown up and taken Claude with him. Because Sylvain was missing.

He couldn’t sit here and play the good pet while he was _missing_.

There was no choice. No thought.

He simply jumped that stupid little wall and followed Sylvain’s scent to where it was strongest.

* * *

By the time he had gotten to the campus they had caught the loose tiger. Apparently, he had been sniffing around the literature building. They had shot him with enough tranquilizers to take him down.

“Let me see him!” Claude demanded walking into the science building.

One of the many benefits with his dad being one of the best contributors to this university was that no one dared tell him no. Especially when he was angry.

Hugo was laid out in a large metal crate if it weren’t for the constant movement from his stomach Claude would almost believe he were dead.

“Hey… hey buddy. What were you thinking?” He kneeled down next to the tiger’s head and lifted him into his lap.

The amber eyes were bleary and unfocused, he gave a half-hearted growl.

“Mr. von Riegan… maybe it would be best not to be so close?”

“We’re old friends. He’s just communicating.” He waved off the nervous onlookers. “We found him.” He whispered for only Hugo. “He was hurt, but we got him to a hospital. He’ll be ok.”

The tiger chuffed, pleased, then seemingly fell asleep.

Setting the large head down carefully Claude got back to his feet and looked at the few people who were gathered there.

“What was he doing that was so dangerous he needed to be sedated?”

“He escaped. A wild tiger on the loose is reason enough.”

“He’s hardly a wild tiger. He’s been living with my family years before he came here. He’s quite tame and has zero track record of any aggression toward people.”

One of the professors that worked in the science building began to argue but a security man came forward and interrupted. “Actually sir, it’s true. These kids climb into that set up every night and the tiger just plays with them. Or sleeps next to them. It’s not vicious.”

“Thank you.” He’d honestly thought the security was just lax around here, but apparently, they were just sensible. They saw no danger, so they took no unnecessary actions.

“This tiger is a specimen _donated_ to the university.” The professor sneered. “Therefore, it is school property and shall be handled as such.”

“Your _specimen_ is a living creature! You can’t just treat him like another drop of chemical under a glass.”

“The tiger is also dying. Which is why he was donated. So that his body can be used for science.”

“_Hugo_ has been getting better. He’s gained weight and is clearly more active then he used to be.”

That seemed to stump the professor. He stared at the tiger and finally seemed to realize the healthier sheen to the coat, the extra few pounds he didn’t have upon arrival.

“He’s still old for a tiger. He won’t live much longer anyway. While the university has been kind enough to make many accommodations for the beast it is not set up to house so many creatures for so long.”

That’s when he finally noticed. The fish were gone. There were only two monkeys left in their cage. Almost half the birds were gone. The animals were disappearing.

“All these animals were to remained unharmed until they had _natural_ deaths!”

“And they have.”

Claude glared at the professor. He was guilty. He could see it in the twitch of his fingers, and the way he couldn’t maintain eye contact for too long. The man was killing them off. And he had just made Hugo a target.

* * *

When Sylvain woke up, he was in a hospital. The overly clean stench made him wrinkle his nose at the familiarity. Looking around he finally found who he knew would be there.

“Thanks man. Again.” He muttered.

Dimitri looked up from his phone quickly putting the device away. “How are you feeling?”

“All things considered? Not terrible.”

“You could have died Sylvain.”

“Miklan wouldn’t kill me.”

Dimitri glared. “He left you alone after severely hurting you. This time turned out fine in the end because I found you. But you missed a whole day. Claude said you were supposed to meet him somewhere and you never showed up. You can’t let this go on.”

“I can’t stop him. You know I can’t.”

“We are adults now. We have power to do something about it now that we didn’t when we were children. Clearly moving away isn’t the solution like we had hoped.”

“I don’t have time to deal with this right now…” Sylvain mumbled sitting up. “Where are my clothes?”

“On the chair over there.” Dimitri gestured to the corner. “And next to them is a thermos from Ingrid she stopped by earlier but had to return because of classes. I think she said it was tea.”

“Aw she’s the best.” He quickly sniffed at the thermos, his favorite bergamot tea, and then continued to get dressed.

“Um, did Claude say anything to you - ”

“About your tiger?”

“He’s not _my_ tiger.”

“He might as well be the way you go on about him. And actually yes. Apparently, he escaped his enclosure last night and the university had him sedated so they could safely recapture him.”

“What?” He froze half way pulling up his pants.

“He didn’t attack anyone. It was just a security measure. Claude said the tiger was sniffing around the literature building.”

Quickly fixing his clothes properly Sylvain switched to combing his fingers through his constantly unruly hair. “Literature building? That’s weird.”

“Is it though? If the tiger was looking for someone who maybe had most of their classes there?” Dimitri smirked.

“You think he was looking for me?”

“What else could he be looking for?”

“I don’t know. A tasty squirrel or something?”

“Sylvain.”

“Alright. Hugo did seem a little agitated when I left him the other night… He heard the phone call I got from Miklan and tried to stop me from going.”

“You speak as if this tiger understands you.”

“He does. He’s like a human, but in a tiger body. It’s the weirdest thing.”

Dimitri suddenly grabbed his keys off the nearby counter. “You ready to go? I want to meet your tiger friend.”

“Really? Why?”

“Just… a hunch I have. Let’s go.”

* * *

Dimitri hadn’t been paying that close of attention the first time they had visited the tiger. As a child he’d been told fairy tales that included tigers. Stories that he was sure his father had made up.

But then.

The incident from when they were kids.

Ingrid was young enough to believe the lies their parents had fed them.

Sylvain… had cried for weeks. But then one day seemed to have moved on as if nothing had happened.

But Dimitri… had sworn to uncover the truth. No matter how wild it was.

As they walked into the enclosure Claude was standing there with the black tiger lying next to him.

“Dimitri! You came to see me!”

“I came to see the tiger that everyone is fussing over.”

“Way to let me down easy.” The brunette muttered.

“Hugo!” Sylvain winced as he climbed the small wall, the bruises on his side throbbing.

The tiger lifted his head, amber eyes following Sylvain’s movements. He tried to get his paws beneath him but stumbled and decided to lay back down.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“The sedation hasn’t worn off yet.” Claude explained watching as the blonde effortlessly made the climb over the wall.

Once Dimitri came closer though Hugo’s gaze switched toward the towering young man. To the other two men’s surprise the blonde dropped to his knees and looked closer at the tiger’s eyes.

“Its… this is too crazy… but…”

“Dimitri… what’s going on?” Claude rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Sylvain. What draws you to this tiger?” Dimitri demanded.

The red head looked baffled, but contemplated his answer never the less. “Well. He’s an amazing companion. He’s funny in his own sort of grumpy way. And he just feels…”

“Familiar?”

“Do you know Hugo?” Claude asked crouching down.

Dimitri reached out and pressed his hands on either side of the tiger’s face. “Felix?”

The tiger snorted, whipped his tail back and forth violently, but then… he chuffed at the blonde.

Claude stared in disbelief as tears ran down his friend’s face. Hugo knocked Dimitri off balance and then went to sit next to a frozen Sylvain. The red head looked like he was in shock.

“Wh-what do you mean? Dimi this isn’t funny…” The old nickname slipped out.

“You never thought it was weird that he just vanished?”

“He… died. He died in the plane crash. Why would you bring him up?”

“This has been haunting me since we were children. I have put years of searching into this. The plane crash didn’t exist because there was a snowstorm that day. Nothing was flying. Felix was at your house the day of the incident… And then he just disappears.”

“What are you saying… did Miklan…?”

“No. Glenn was still around then... He would have protected Felix. Even Miklan knew not to mess with Glenn. I don’t know. But… this is crazy. But as a kid. My father used to tell me a fairy tale, and it was about a tiger and a prince. I always thought of it as childish nonsense. But now…”

“How does the story go?” Claude asked. He was rubbing soothing circles on Dimitri’s back trying to keep everyone calm.

“The story? Yes.” Dimitri nodded as he thought back to the tale.

* * *

_Once upon a time there lived a brave Little Prince._

_The Prince had hair the color of the sun. _

_He was a kind Prince who always helped those in need._

_But there were those who hated the sun and wished for darkness._

_One day, while the Prince was in the village he was attacked by bandits._

_These bandits had been hired by those who wished for darkness. _

_The Prince had never been attacked before and was not ready to fight._

_Out of the shadows a tiger leapt and killed all the bandits. _

_“My Prince. You must be careful. There are those who wish you harm.”_

_The Tiger loved the little Prince. _

_And from that day on the Tiger swore to protect the Prince. _

_“Tiger, how long will you stay by my side?” _

_The Prince would ask every night as he laid in bed next to his tiger._

_“Forever my Prince. Beyond the time of the stars.”_

_The Tiger always answered. _

_Then came the time that the Prince became King._

_When the King met his Queen there soon followed a new little Prince._

_The Tiger also had found a mate and they had a little tiger by their side. _

_“Tiger, when I am gone will you still watch over my blood?”_

_The King asked as he laid down for the last time._

_“My King, like I have always watched over you, _

_my blood will always watch over yours.”_

_The Tiger replied. _

_The Little Prince mourned the passing of the King._

_While he stood beside the grave the Little Tiger came to stand by his side._

_“Little Tiger, I am alone now.”_

_“No, my Prince, as long as I stand by you, you will never be alone.”_

_“Tiger, how long will you stand by my side?”_

_“Forever my Prince. Beyond the time of the stars.”_

* * *

“But, that’s a fairy tale.” Sylvain pointed out when Dimitri had finished.

“Of course, it is. Which is why until recently I had forgotten about it.”

Claude mulled over the words carefully. “But. If we took the fairy tale and applied it here. Then we could venture to guess that the tiger appeared to protect his ‘prince’.”

“But wouldn’t that be Dimitri?” Sylvain pointed out gesturing to the blonde hair.

“I had thought this too.” He nodded.

“You guys are forgetting something.” Claude smirked.

“What’s that?”

“The sun sets red.”

They stared at Sylvain, and the tiger that had curled itself around him like a protective barrier.

Dimitri grinned. “That’s true. Well done Claude.”

The brunette preened at the praise. “Thank you.”

The red head looked down at the amber eyes that were watching him carefully. Resting a hand on top of his head he rubbed his thumb along the stripes that outlined his face. “Are you… really Felix?”

Felix chuffed then head butted him.

Sylvain collapsed on top of him and started sobbing into his fur. “We thought you were dead you jerk!”

The tiger made a grunting noise, but allowed the young man to cry on him.

“So, if Felix turned into a tiger to protect Sylvain… how does he change back into a human?” Dimitri mused.

“I have a theory on that as well.” Claude jumped in.

“Of course, you do. Well?”

“The tiger, or the spirit of the tiger anyway shows up to protect his prince, right?”

“Yes…”

“So, wouldn’t make sense that the tiger would disappear if the prince was no longer in danger?”

“Miklan.” Dimitri murmured.

“Exactly. As long as there is the threat of his older brother, Sylvain will always be in danger. Therefore, the tiger’s spirit cannot rest.”

Dimitri made eye contact with his childhood friend. “It’s time we took care of this.”

Sylvain looked hesitant. One hand he firmly had gripping Felix’s fur. Looking into those amber eyes he knew what choice he had to make. It terrified him. Never in his life did he even consider getting away from Miklan for good. His brother’s abuse had been a part of his life for so long that he didn’t know how to live without the fear resting in the back of his mind. The fear that at any minute Miklan could appear and take out all his anger on him. Leave him bruised and bleeding, but giving him just enough time to heal till the next surge of anger.

“Ok. I’ll… do something.”

“We are going to the police.” Dimitri fixed.

“Alright. For Felix.”

“There is one more little problem.” Claude said slowly.

“What’s that?”

“Well. As long as he’s here, he’s under surveillance. If they catch a tiger turning into a human on camera that person is never going to be able to live a normal life.”

“Shit.” Sylvain looked over at Felix who was silently watching the conversation. “What do we do?”

“That much is obvious. We have to ‘steal the tiger’ and be able to keep him hidden while you take care of keeping your brother away from you for good.”

“But who knows how long that could take?!”

“Then we better come up with a really good hiding spot.”

“Needless to say, our semester at this university is shot.” Dimitri chuckled.

“Yeah… and we might not be allowed back in.” Claude grimaced.

“My dad will be so pissed…” Sylvain muttered.

Felix growled and wrapped his tail around Sylvain’s waist.

“Heh, thanks buddy.”

“Shall we begin?”

* * *

It turned out that the perfect hiding spot was out of the country. Once they let Ingrid in on what was happening, she was angry at them for being so insensitive about such a thing. But when they finally managed to convince her she insisted that they hide away in one of her family’s many vacation homes. In the highlands of Scotland. Far away from their American university in California. Which would have been absolutely ridiculous to even aim for, except that Dimitri’s father was more than willing to let his son borrow their private jet, no questions asked.

“That seems rather irresponsible of him to just let his son take the private jet.” Claude pointed out the night they had planned to take off.

“It would be, if he had any reason to believe I was up to something less than upstanding.” Dimitri grinned.

“Always the perfect son?”

“Well I’m certainly not as roguish as you.”

“You know you love it.”

“I never said otherwise.”

Ingrid groaned. “Can you two stop? For like five minutes?”

“Yeah. What makes you think that we’re going to be able to successfully pull this off?” Sylvain asked. He had been anxious the last few days. Waiting for Miklan to suddenly show up somehow hearing of their plan. Not that it was possible. But it lurked in the back of his mind.

“Wait for it…” Claude was grinning like a mad man.

“I’m so glad you’re on our side.” Ingrid muttered.

A moment later all the fire alarms plus the sprinklers kicked on. They could hear them all over the campus.

“Did you seriously…?” Dimitri looked out the window as all the lights in the dorms and office buildings started turning on.

“Every single alarm and sprinkler that is connected to this university just turned on.” Claude grinned.

Felix growled, his ears flickering irritably.

Sylvain reached over and covered the soft tufts. “It’s too loud for him!”

“Then we better get going!”

Ingrid pulled off her bandana keeping her long hair away from her face and kneeled down to wrap it around Felix’s head to replace Sylvain’s hands.

The tiger chuffed then nosed them toward the glass wall to start their escape.

If anyone was watching the security cameras right now the most suspicious thing happening on campus beyond all the fire alarms had to be the four students and tiger running across the quad.

They made it to Dimitri’s car with no problems beyond trying to fit Ingrid, Sylvain, and Felix in the back seat of the BMW. Once they were squished in, Dimitri took off toward the airport, breaking maybe a few road violations.

Getting onto the jet was easier than they could have imagined. The pilot and attendant that were joining them didn’t even look surprised when Felix jumped out of the back of the car and made his way up the stairs.

While they were getting ready for take-off Claude’s phone rang.

“_What did you do?”_

“What makes you think it was me?”

_“Son, don’t lie to me.”_

“It was for a good cause.”

_“I’m going to be making a large donation to the science program, aren’t I?”_

Claude did look chastised for a moment. “Well... that wouldn’t hurt…”

_“Are you safe?”_

“One hundred percent.”

_“I want to hear from you again before the end of the week.”_

“Yes sir.”

Meanwhile Dimitri was having a similar conversation with his own father. Ingrid was watching the texts messages show up on Sylvain’s phone as he pointedly did not touch it, but couldn’t look away from it. A call would ring in, go to voice mail, a text message would appear, then it would start ringing again.

“It’s going to be ok.” Ingrid took his hand.

“I… I know that.” He nodded. And he did.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t already having nightmares about Miklan finding him and murdering him in his sleep.

* * *

Once the jet was in the air things calmed down. They were exhausted and since there was plenty of couch space plus a bed toward the back, they all made themselves comfortable and napped.

There was a landing space not too far from Ingrid’s family’s home for their own convenience. They were greeted by the staff that helped keep the house tidy even when the family wasn’t there to live in it. They were a little more nervous about the tiger stepping off the jet, but they didn’t say anything other than a warming welcome to ‘Mistress Ingrid’ and her friends.

The vacation home was really a mansion, with not another sign of civilization anywhere nearby. They seemed to be alone in the world as they were surrounded by nothing but grass fields, a few bare trees, and lots of mist.

“This place is really the perfect spot to hideaway at.” Claude nodded appreciatively.

“I’ve always liked it.” Ingrid smiled as she looked about her favorite house. “The bedrooms are upstairs. You all can take your pick, except for the one at the end of the hall. That one is mine.”

“What about your parents’ rooms?”

“They never come here anymore. This is my house.”

Dimitri nodded as if that was normal while Claude and Sylvain just shook their heads and left to go pick out their own rooms.

* * *

The first week was stressful for Sylvain. He spent most of his nights pacing around his room or exploring the mansion and its too many empty rooms. Before they took off Claude had gathered their phones and detached the batteries from them so there was no way they could be traced. But he knew his father had to be furious.

He knew that Miklan had to be even more so.

In the past Miklan had gone to no small lengths to track down Sylvain.

What made this time really so different?

The answer to that remained by his side.

Felix followed Sylvain literally everywhere. While the tiger didn’t seem anxious by any means, he didn’t allow the red head out of his sight. The one time Sylvain had seemingly vanished the tiger had angrily growled searching high and low around the mansion and grounds till he found his target had found a way to the roof. This soon became their new hiding place.

Ingrid was so happy to be back in what she considered her home that most the time they would find her hidden away in the back of the massive library or out in the garden area practicing her fencing.

Dimitri and Claude switched between searching the library on books of legends and fairy tales in hopes of finding something about tigers, to exploring the mansion and checking in on Felix and Sylvain to see if the tiger was a man yet.

It differed on the day as to how Felix was behaving. While he never left the red head man’s side, sometimes he would choose to watch from a corner where he would be curled up looking bored. Sometimes though, they would peek into a room and they would find Sylvain on the floor with the large cat resting his head in his lap while he played with the soft tufts that were his ears. Or Sylvain would be using the tiger as a backrest as he read one of the many books that Ingrid kept suggesting. In these situations, Felix was usually wrapped tightly around him, tail intertwined with long legs, front paws and head leaning against his hip as amber eyes watched every movement that happened around them.

It was a strange sort of peace they had found, but as the days went by Sylvain’s bruises slowly faded and soon, he even began to stop jumping at every loud noise. It was no secret as to why he’d been such a nervous wreck when they first arrived at the Galatea estate. They all heard him walking the mansion at night, unable to sleep in fear that his brother would appear at any moment.

Finally, they made it a month in the mansion without any word from the outside world. They were enjoying a dinner that the staff had made for them in the small greenhouse that was attached to the side. Dimitri had made the joke that he felt like royalty while living here but Ingrid just gave him a withering look. They all came from wealthy families. That’s how they were able to afford the university they used to attend.

“Miss Ingrid,” One of the older ladies appeared at their table, a kind woman who claimed to have known the blonde girl since she was an infant. “The mail’s arrived.”

“Thank you, Christina,” Ingrid gave a small smile. “But why not leave it on my desk like usual?”

“Well this letter is for your friend there.” She gestured toward Sylvain.

The blood drained from his face, making him paler then he normally was. Felix, who had been resting next to his chair gave a low growl.

“Thank you, Christina.” Ingrid repeated with a more clipped tone.

Taking the hint, the older woman left the greenhouse.

“Sylvain.” Ingrid held the letter in her hand but didn’t want to hand it to its owner. The red-haired man wouldn’t even look at her, he was frozen staring at his half-eaten pasta.

“It’s him, right?” His voice was barely a whisper.

Felix was on his feet and staring intently at the envelope.

Dimitri took it from her and opened himself, his eyes growing more furious as they read what had been written for Sylvain’s eyes only.

“He knows we’re here. And he’s coming for you.” He said bluntly.

Felix’s growl turned into an angry roar. Sylvain sub-consciously reached over and dug his fingers into the thick fur around his neck.

“Then the solution is we leave before he gets here.” Claude shrugged, trying to sound calm and reasonable.

“And go where?” Ingrid asked. “We’re practically in the middle of nowhere as is, and he found us.”

“It wouldn’t be a great stretch to assume that he was hiding at a friend’s residency.” Dimitri pointed out. “It probably only took this long because he couldn’t put which friend and which house that friend owns together.”

“True…” She frowned.

“What are we waiting for then? Let’s grab our stuff and go.” Claude began to stand, but sat back down when Sylvain finally spoke up.

“There’s no point.” His voice was tight now. “There’s no point in running. He won’t stop. This is how it’s always been… there’s no point. And you guys are just going to get caught in the crossfire. And that’s not fair.”

Slamming his fist on the table Dimitri stood suddenly. “What’s not fair is that he does this. What’s not fair is that you don’t see a way out. What’s not fair is that you won’t let us help you. Sylvain. We’re not helping you by obligation. We’re helping because you’re our friend and we want to.”

“Yeah, besides I’d like to see your brother get in a fight with this guy here.” Claude pointed at the tall blonde next to him. “He’s kind of a beast in a good brawl.”

“You aren’t going to offer to fight yourself?” Ingrid raised an eyebrow.

“Oh hell no. I’m not a fighter. I’m more the brains behind the brawn.”

There was a joke there, Claude knew it as he placed a hand on Dimitri’s shoulder to calm him down. And normally Sylvain would have made the joke. But right now, their friend was trying to make his pasta explode by sheer force of glare.

“Let us call the police.” Ingrid begged Sylvain. “If we bring the authorities into this, they will lock him away and you won’t have to worry about this ever again.”

“At the very least we should move to another location so that we slow him down even that little bit till we have a more solid plan.” Claude offered.

Sylvain looked at them for a moment and they could see the exhaustion in his eyes. Though he was only twenty-two, in this moment he looked ancient. “For tonight… let’s just get some rest. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

* * *

That night Dimitri felt restless. The defeated look in Sylvain’s expression… it would haunt him. Much like Felix’s disappearance had for all these years. Ever since his friend had vanished like a ghost the young man stared having longer nights. Being an insomniac led to many night time strolls which is what he had chosen to do now.

As he turned a corner, he was surprised to see two glowing amber eyes watching him in the hall. It was almost four in the morning, and Felix always slept in Sylvain’s room. What was he doing in the hall? In the dim hall lighting he could see the scratches the tiger had made around the door handle clearly trying to open it.

“Did he lock you out tonight?” Dimitri murmured.

He understood Sylvain wanting to be alone right now, but surely, he knew how being separated like this made Felix anxious. Normally his friend was never so callous. Deciding to just let the tiger in and deal with the consequences in the morning he went to open the door only to find it locked.

Felix was watching him with a judgmental expression.

“I suppose you knew it was locked all along.”

The tiger snorted.

“Then I guess you can just stay here till he comes out in the morning.” Dimitri had never been one to give in to Felix’s tantrums as a child.

Felix made a low noise that was a mix of growl and whine as he stood on his back paws and tried at the door handle again.

“It’s locked. And if he’s actually sleeping, he needs it.” Dimitri rolled his eyes at the antics before continuing on his way.

* * *

However, when the morning rose there was still no sign of Sylvain. Felix’s growling rumbles could be heard from all over the mansion. Finally, Dimitri sighed as they were eating breakfast and went to try to calm the tiger. But when he made his way to the door, he saw the wild look in the amber eyes.

Something was wrong.

Gripping the handle, he rammed into the door with his shoulder. The wood splintered under his strength and finally allowed them entry.

Felix leapt over the debris quickly running over to the empty bed. After sniffing at it for barely a second, he followed it to the open window and the large tree that stood outside. He growled again as he leapt out onto one of the branches, and made his way down to the front drive.

Dimitri turned to run back the way he came and quickly found the other two waiting quietly in the dining room.   
“Sylvain left.”

* * *

Running away was such a childlike thing to do. Yet he felt no regrets as he watched the world pass by from the plane window. It had hurt him to lock Felix out of the room last night. Shoving the blankets under the door to muffle any noise then turning on music to block out any other noise while he put the battery back in his phone and called his brother.

Of course, Miklan was mad.

But the way he congratulated him for ‘making the right choice in the end’ sent chills down his spine. Somehow it was worse than when he was yelling.

After that _lovely_ conversation it was simple to call a taxi and schedule a flight. He had worried about a certain tiger’s heightened hearing and had the taxi meet him almost half a mile away from the house. After he slipped out the window and made his way down the long gravel path to the waiting car… well. That was it.

He wouldn’t let Miklan show up here in this place of peace and solitude. This small little haven they had found.

He wouldn’t let Miklan hurt them in the process of hurting his younger brother.

And he definitely couldn’t let Miklan know that about Felix.

Miklan wouldn’t inherit the family fortune like Sylvain was destined to, so the older Gautier was always looking for a way to make some money. There is no way he wouldn’t see Felix and immediately think of a hundred different ways to make money off such a rare tiger. If he didn’t just call the university to inform them that he’d found their missing ‘lab specimen’.

This was really the only option.

Sylvain had known it before the envelope had shown up.

It had only been a matter of time. That’s why he had made the most of the time he had spent with them. Dimitri and Ingrid had always been good friends. Claude while new to their group had been nothing but genuine since he had met him, if not a bit mischievous.

And Felix… he’d only just gotten him back.

He didn’t remember the events of that day when he had first disappeared… it was one of Miklan’s really bad days. He knew that much. But if what Dimitri said was true, as wild as it was, then it was Sylvain’s fault that Felix had turned into a tiger to start with. He wasn’t going to be the reason that he died as a tiger too.

When the plane landed Miklan was waiting at the gate, the large scar that ran down his face fit perfectly with the cruelty in his eyes.

“Welcome back Sylvain.”

* * *

It took them no time at all to figure out what had happened. Sylvain had left trying to protect them. It was so simple they all agreed they should have seen it coming. Dimitri was beating himself up over the fact that he should have guessed it especially when he saw Felix locked out in the hallway. But throwing blame and regrets around was going to solve nothing. They took the same jet back home. Dimitri had them driven to Sylvain’s apartment from the airport.

“Why aren’t we going to the Gautier place?” Ingrid asked.

“I’m assuming that Miklan would prefer the solitude that Sylvain’s apartment would give them…” Claude muttered.

Upon arrival to the building Dimitri broke the door similarly to the one at Ingrid’s mansion and they rushed up the stairs to their friend’s door. Once there it was eerily silent.

Dimitri pounded on the door. “Sylvain! Let us in!”

But it was Miklan who answered the door, sneer on his face. “You brats still hang around this little shit?”

“_Where is he_?” Dimitri demanded trying to open the door further, but Miklan had left the chain hooked.

Miklan glared. “None of your damned business. You kids need to go home.”

Felix was the one who made the first move. The tiger launched himself at the door with enough force to snap the fragile chain that had been keeping them out.

At the sight of the beast the older Gautier’s eyes grew wide with fear. “I-it’s you! How?! I got rid of you!”

Felix snarled as he pinned the hysterically screaming man to the dirty floor.

Ingrid and Claude hurried into the bedroom to find Sylvain while Dimitri and Felix and took care of Miklan.

The tiger’s claws dug into his flesh, but did no further damage other than the bruising that was likely to appear from where he had landed on him. However, when Ingrid came rushing out of the bedroom with tears in her eyes, but a determined expression on her face as she gathered first aid supplies from the bathroom, and Claude stepped into the hallway already speaking to someone about getting an ambulance; Dimitri saw red.

His fist smashed into the man’s face three times. Twice was all it took to knock him unconscious and the last one was for good measure. Felix dug his claws in tightly one last time before he rushed into the bedroom where he could smell the iron and salt of blood in the air.

When the ambulance they decided that the tiger was not the threat as it sat quietly behind Ingrid while they worked. Claude assured them that the man on the floor did not need medical attention besides maybe a broken nose reset but would be needed by the authorities. The police went right to work dealing with the pressing matter of the abuse charges.

Dimitri had to admit to being the one to attack Miklan, but he told them plainly that he had no regrets on that matter.

When Ingrid and Dimitri explained that this wasn’t the first time this had happened, but the first time it had been reported one of the cops, a soft-spoken man with sympathetic eyes offered them a small smile.

“You guys did the right thing to report this. Victims often feel the need to hide from people that could help them in times like this. And they sometimes don’t make it because of that. I spoke with the medics on my way up here and your friend should pull through just fine. You saved him today. And Miklan Gautier will be looking at a long time locked away for this. Depending on what evidence we can gather he could be looking at a life behind bars.”

The relief they felt in those words was a huge weight off their shoulders, but when they were declared free to go the one thing, was when they noticed that Felix was missing.

When they found him though it was not what they expected.

Felix had locked himself in the laundry closet, and when they opened it, they found their friend, human once again.

Despite being older and much thinner than they remember, the amber eyes and thick black hair was the same. Ingrid and Dimitri crushed him in a hug tears in all their eyes.

Claude stood back but shook his head fondly. He no longer had to worry about someone hurting Hugo… or rather, Felix.

* * *

When Sylvain woke, they told him he’d been in a coma for almost a month. They told him how his friends how found him and how his brother had been sentenced to a life in prison for the years of abuse. Especially during the years while Sylvain was still a minor. Dimitri, Ingrid, and Claude came to visit regularly. Once they brought an attractive guy with them. Long dark hair pulled away from his face in a haphazard ponytail, slender but strong body, calloused hands but the most fascinating part was the amber eyes.

Sylvain hated when those eyes looked at him with such… disappointment? Sorrow? It was hard to say. But he felt like he had let this newcomer down.

When he asked for his name being his ever-charming self, the man just snarled and left the room in a storm.

His friends looked at him sadly, but they chose to say nothing as they changed the topic to returning to their school work. Ingrid and Dimitri had gone back to get their degrees. Claude admitted that school bored him and he had plans to return home and help his father with the family business. Not that he had ever revealed what that was particularly. Always the man of secrets. When he asked about Hugo, Claude just said that he was happy and free away from the confinement of the school.

After another week the doctor told him he was free to go. Dimitri had offered to let him live with him. The blonde had moved into a house not too far from the university. Sylvain’s apartment had been trashed after Miklan had shown up and the landlord was refusing to renew his lease. So it was to Dimitri’s fancy house he went. The blonde warned him on the drive there that he currently had the young man from before living with him as well. Admittedly he had only bought the house with intention that both Sylvain and this other person would move in with him because he had seen no other options for them after the landlord declared the denial of lease renewal.

“So how do you have this friend that I have never met?” Sylvain asked as they left the coffee shop, getting back into his friend’s car on their way to the house.

“I think you should talk to him.” Was all Dimitri would say.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed how strange you’ve been acting.” Sylvain informed him. “You are not subtle in the least my friend.”

“It’s not my place to say anything.”

“As my oldest friend it’s your job to keep me up to date.”

“As your oldest friend trust, me that this is the best course of action.”

“You sound like Claude now.” The red head groaned.

Dimitri just hummed a little with a smirk. “That’s odd.”

“Is he living in the house too?”

“No, he’s back home with his father now. You know this.”

“I wouldn’t put it past that guy to be secretly living here this whole time.”

“While I admit that does sound like him, I assure you that he is definitely not living in my house at this moment.”

“Just the mystery man.”

“Yes. Just him.”

“Fine… let’s not keep him waiting.”

* * *

The mystery newcomer was nowhere to be found when they first got there. He also didn’t show up when they were carrying all of Sylvain’s things up to his new room and helping him settle in. Dimitri had a night class so he had to leave soon after they finished unpacking the last of the boxes. Sylvain waved him off saying that he would be fine to just cook something in the kitchen for himself tonight.

“If you cook something with meat in it, he might make an appearance.” Dimitri informed him quietly before rushing out the door.

He was half tempted to just throw in one of the many frozen pizzas and call it good. But sheer curiosity forced him into grilling up a couple steaks instead. Sure, enough right as he was pulling them off the grill and placing them on a plate the dark-haired man appeared.

It should have been creepy the way he said nothing and just stared at him with those calculating amber eyes.

“You know, you never told me your name.” Sylvain said leaning one hip against the counter. “I tell you what. You give me your name, and one interesting fact about yourself, and you can have half of these steaks.”

At first, he just received a cold glare, but finally the other man sighed.

“Felix. Felix Hugo Fraldarius. And I’m hungry.”

“You know, being hungry is hardly an interesting fact. But I’ll compromise and allow it.” He offered the man a plate with the promised meal on it.

Instead of taking the offered fork and knife though Felix chose to sit on the counter and eat the steak like a kid would eat chicken nuggets.

“I once knew a Hugo.” Sylvain finally said after a long moment of silence. “But he was a grumpy cat.”

Felix glared at him.

“And…” How come those eyes were so distracting? The bright amber controlled him, making him unable to look away. “Actually. He was a tiger.”

“How interesting.” The amber finally focused back down at the plate in his lap and he continued eating his meal.

“Dude. I’m sorry. But have we met before? I know that sounds like a line, and you are certainly welcome to take it as one, but… damn. You seem so familiar.”

The amber gaze was back. “Do I?”

The smell of burning flesh reached him before the pain did.

“_Sylvain!_” Felix was suddenly at his side turning off the stove top where the grill pan had been sitting. He yanked harshly on the burnt arm and forced it under cool water in the sink. “You fool. You’re a grown ass man. Just take care of yourself for once dammit.”

When Felix finally deemed it long enough, he went to pat carefully at the red swollen skin. All things considering, it wasn’t that terrible of a burn. It wouldn’t even leave a scar. Realizing the strangeness of the silence he finally looked up at the man he was helping.

There were tears in Sylvain’s eyes.

“Fe… Felix?”

He frowned. “It’s not that bad of a burn, you wuss.”

The arm he had been holding was yanked out of his grasp and then both of the strong arms were wrapped around him.

Sylvain buried his nose into the juncture of his neck and shoulder, sobs racking his body. The dark hair was tickling at his face, but it was just another comfort that he had missed.

“Wait… do you…?”

“I’m so sorry.” Sylvain murmured. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know how I could have forgotten. I don’t know. I’m so sorry. I missed you so much. How… how are you here?”

Felix felt his own fingers dig into the scarlet strands as his other hand clung to the back of his shirt. “It was when the police arrived. They said that there was no way that asshole would be allowed near you again... he gave you a pretty serious head injury. I didn't think you would...”

They spent a long time just murmuring reassurances to one another before Sylvain finally pulled back, wiping at his eyes.

“Does your dad know?”

“I called Rodrigue the day after you had been admitted in the hospital.” When he didn’t explain further Sylvain didn’t push. Rodrigue had been a hard man to speak to after Felix’s disappearance and the death of his older son. It would take time to rebuild that bridge.

But… right now in this moment…

“Can you turn into a tiger whenever you want?”

“No.”

“So, it was just a one-time thing?”

“That lasted over a decade.” Felix was glaring again, but Sylvain loved all of it.

“Just making sure. I’d hate for you to suddenly grow claws and attack me or something.”

“Why in the world would I do - ”

The kiss was sudden, but not unexpected. Sylvain had expected resistance from the stubborn man before him, but what he got was a fierceness that matched the fire that rested in those amber eyes he loved so much.

Later when they were sprawled on the couch, a blanket draped over them, Felix resting on Sylvain’s chest, while Sylvain ran his fingers through the long black locks, he finally spoke up again.

“So, my tiger, how long will you stay with me this time?” It was cheesy and Felix was going to scratch his eyes out. He knew it.

But instead, he resettled himself much like a cat does in its sleep before quietly whispering. “Beyond the time of the stars.”

When Sylvain squeezed him in a tight hug for the hundredth time that evening Felix squirmed before growling out. “Love you, you dumbass.”

And that’s really all he’d been waiting to hear.


End file.
